The Code: Earth Story
'The Code: Earth Story.' Code: Earth were a pop-rock band from France. Born out of the ashes of Odd's previous band Pop-Rock Progressives, the original lineup included Odd (vocals/guitars), William (vocals/guitars), Theo (bass), Aelita (keyboards), Yumi (multi-instrumentalist), Thomas (drums), and Emmanuel (percussion). Later members included Ulrich (keyboards), Nicholas (drums), Brynja (saxophone), Matthieu (vocals/guitars), and Solana (multi-instrumentalist). Despite the band's success, fame wasn't without its flaws. Tension plagued the band during the making of their fifth album, which lead to the departure of founding member William Dunbar following the tour. Following both his and Brynja's departure, the band recruited Matthieu Ducrocq and Solana Stern and released two more albums as well as a Christmas album before calling it a day. Code: Earth's success would lead to two new bands: Psycho Tsunami (lead by William) and Mystic Zone (lead by Odd). Part One. Following the win against XANA and the shutting down of the supercomputer, Odd was stuck as what to do next. With no plans to reunite the Pop Rock Progressives, he went about starting a new band. Despite the naysayers, he was determined to make this succeed. (...) Two weeks before the band were to start the European leg of the tour; Thomas left the band, only to be coerced back a few days later by Odd and William. Desptie the great performances night after night, the album only reached modest sales. But Odd and William had a belief both in the band and that better things were on the horizon. But it was during this leg of the tour that Thomas began experiencing depression. Meanwhile, Yumi had begun to miss her family and was keen to get back home to see them. One night, before leaving for the show, Yumi told Aelita she was leaving the band. Meanwhile, Thomas’s mental health continued to decline. On the final night of the Amsterdam leg of the tour, Thomas's depression was becoming a real problem. As soon as the encore finished, he left the stage and went back to the dressing room. Emmanuel saw this occur and followed him to see what was wrong. When he got to the dressing room, he saw Thomas with tears in his eyes. What happened after that is as follows: (EMMANUEL) Are you alright, Thomas? (THOMAS, crying) I can’t do this anymore. I’ve gotta leave the band. (EMMANUEL) You may as well do it now. (THOMAS) Thanks, man. On the plane back home, Thomas sat by himself and did not speak to the rest of the band for the whole flight. Once they returned home, Thomas said goodbye and returned to a normal life. But another bombshell hit them when Yumi announced she too was leaving the band in order to spend time with her family. It was at this point that Odd and William seemed resigned to the band’s demise until Yumi suggested they hire ex-''Pop-Rock Progressives'' members Nicholas Poliakoff and Ulrich Stern. The rest of the band agreed and both Ulrich and Nicholas were welcomed into the band. With Nicholas bringing his great talent for drumming and Ulrich agreeing to share keyboard duties with Aelita, it was like a whole new band. This would quickly become, among the fans at least, the band's most popular lineup. One standout track from their second album Methodical Matters was a cover by Ulrich of Message to my Girl. This quickly became a favourite of Odd and Ulrich's as well as a hit with the crowds during the band's live performances. Other standouts would be Aelita's covers of I Hope I Never and Voices. The latter being the first track to feature future band member Solana Stern on saxophone. But while the band were enjoying its success, back home former drummer Thomas was not doing so well. His depression had hit a point that he turned to drugs to numb the pain. (...) By the final week of the tour, the fatigue began to set in. At the end of the last performance, poor Nicholas collapsed on his drum kit. The band was keen to escape the drudgery of the past few months. Especially William who was secretly planning to do something outside the confines of the band. With no plans to record another album anytime soon, they decided to take a three-month holiday. Meanwhile, in an attempt to help Thomas kick his addiction, his parents and his new girlfriend checked him into rehab. While the doctors there were able to treat his drug addiction, it was the news that came after this that would leave him devastated. His excessive drug use had caused brain damage and an abnormal heart rate. To regulate his heart rate, Thomas would be fitted with a pacemaker. Part Two. During the downtime the band took a vacation. Meanwhile, William was taking advantage of the downtime by remaining in France and recording a demo for a song that he felt didn’t seem right for Code: Earth. This demo eventually became a song on his experimental solo album William Dunbar Presents: Psycho Tsunami, which he recorded with people from outside the group. It was while he was recording this album that he was introduced to a talented musician from Norway, Brynja Heringsdötir. Following the holiday, Code: Earth returned to the studio to rehearse for their new album. It was during this time that William returned from his little solo fling with his new girlfriend Brynja in tow. After listening to the band perform The Devil You Know, William suggested they use a drum machine instead, a suggestion Nicholas was none too happy with. Aside from this minor bump in the road, the rest of the recording continued swimmingly. From the outset, the band decided to try something new and tell a story starting with Doctor Love and ending with Under the Wheel (a song that gave drummer Nicholas a real workout). Revitalised following the completion of the album, entitled Dreams and Nightmares, a performance was scheduled later that month at Kadic Academy. There then followed a tour in which they performed in Australia and Europe with brief stopovers in America and the UK. The band then returned home and after a quick break, rehearsals began again in the studio. Sitting there watching them was William’s new girlfriend Brynja. This didn't sit well with the rest of the band. It got to a point that one day she actually asked William if she could join the band. One night after rehearsal, William informed Odd that he wanted to bring another girl back into the band. This of course meant that Brynja would come in and unfortunately Ulrich would have to go. It was a request Odd was dead against - they have a great thing going and now William wants to break that bond? William then left it to Odd to deliver the bad news to Ulrich. It was a cold winter that night with rain pouring down from the sky. Luckily, Odd managed to get to the apartment he shared with Ulrich before he was completely drenched by the rain. Once inside, he said to Ulrich “Ulrich, William wants to have Brynja in the group.” “Are you serious?” Ulrich asked, approaching Odd threateningly. To which Odd, raising his hands up in defense, replied, "Don't blame me, it was William's idea, not mine." The next day, Ulrich met up with William and punched him in the eye. After spitting in his face, Ulrich looked at William and said "Thanks a f**king lot." Later that afternoon, Brynja joined the band. While the band continued to fire on all cylinders, it quickly became obvious that something wasn’t right. Rehearsals continued, but the tension was beginning to escalate. A day later, William and Brynja were elsewhere, so Odd invited Ulrich along to play keyboards for a cover they were doing of Stuff and Nonsense. After finishing the song, Ulrich left. But not before saying the following: (ULRICH) Hey Odd, after all this is over and you want to put together a new band, give me a call. While rehearsing and recording more covers for the album, it quickly dawned on them that William’s contributions weren’t up to his usual standard. When William and Brynja left to promote their side-project, Code: Earth decided to put the recording on hold. It was during this break in recording that the band tossed around album names. One suggestion was Two Gone, Five Remain, which referenced William and Brynja's absence. As soon as William and Brynja returned, recording of the album continued. But when the album was finally completed, only William and Brynja were pleased with the way it sounded. The album, titled Feast of Madness, would go on to sell moderately well but the reviews were less than favourable, citing William's solo album, the band's new lineup and the noticeable loss of momentum especially after three successful albums. Despite strong songs such as Stuff and Nonsense and Ghost Girl, the band now disregard the album, calling it the weakest. During the downtime between live performances and interviews, the band would find ways to keep themselves entertained. Everyone that is, except William who was slowly getting bored of being tied down with Code: Earth. So what was William's idea of keeping himself entertained - hanging out with Brynja! By the time the tour came to Australia, the frustration was setting in. It quickly became obvious to Brynja that William wanted to leave. Sometimes during breaks in rehearsal, William and Brynja would stay behind and work on new music. A few nights later following the final performance, the tension between Odd and William got too much and William punched Odd in the face. It was at this moment that William announced he was leaving the band. The two never spoke to each other again... The next day, William announced on Twitter both he and Brynja were leaving Code: Earth. This was accompanied by a racy photo of him and Brynja as a final stab at their former bandmates. Without William's guidance, Odd was now on his own... Part Three. Following William and Brynja’s departures, the band reconvened to weigh their options. After a long discussion, the band decided to continue on and hired Matthieu Ducrocq and Ulrich's cousin Solana as new members. After the problems that arose during the last tour, the band announced on social media that they were never touring again. With two new members, the lineup is Odd Della Robbia, Matthieu Ducrocq, Theo Gauthier, Aelita Schaeffer, Solana Stern, Nicholas Poliakoff, and Emmanuel Maillard. Returning to the studio, the band set about to record their new album (which at the time had the beta title of Fact or Fiction), they set out to not make the same mistakes that plagued their previous release. It was Matthieu's great guitar work and Solana's skills as a multi-instrumentalist that gave the band the fresh sound they thought they'd lost. (...) It was during a break in the production of the album that Emmanuel paid a visit to Thomas. TO BE CONTINUED...